Story+1988-03-17+Chicago,+IL

´´I think spring must be just around the corner now...even in Chicago it must be just around the corner....think I´ll take a walk in park, alright....hey, hey, man, hey, how you doing ? how´s it going ? alright, ain´t seen you in little while...I´ve been pretty good, you know, just kind of hanging at home, you know....feels good, what´ve you been up to ?....yeah, oh yeah, let me check....oh-oh, pictures of the little Big Man....oh yeah, he´s got the little guitar too.... he´s got a little guitar, he´s got a little saxophone....he´s gonna take both our jobs, man (chuckles)...there´s all sorts of little babies running around here now, there´s gonna be a little E Street Band in about 15 years....Volume 2....carry on the tradition....this guy´s handsome, you know, he looks good....yeah (chuckles)....man, I remember 10 years ago we used to sit on this bench and we used to say ´We ain´t ever getting married, man, no Sir !´....´Got things to do, people to see, places to go´....and then....we used to sit here and watch, watch the girls come out of this big office building on the corner....right around, it´s right around when they get off work right around now, here they come, man, here they come....they look, they look so young...they weren´t that young 10 years ago, no....I don´t look any older, do I ? no ?.... I look the same exactly as I did 10 years ago, right ? (cheers)...lying is ok, it´s alright (chuckles)...check this one, the girl in the, uh, in the blue skirt.....wo, alright ! (chuckles).... man, remember, remember what it feels like the first time, like, somebody you´re interested in comes walking in the room, they´re looking so good and....you´re straightening your hair and fixing yourself up and getting ready to make your introduction and getting all kind of flustered....now, in New Jersey it feels kind of like this, come on Ritchie !....get it now, boys! ....these men are really natives, actual natives....well....anyway, it´s good to see you, it´s nice to see you....I gotta get home for dinner now....I gotta be home exactly at 6.30 and I gotta be in bed by 11.30 now....that´s when she goes to bed, you know....I´ll see you little later....”
 * 17.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´All That Heaven Will Allow´**

´´How you doing out there tonight ? (cheers)....that´s good....and how are you guys, huh ? (cheers)....that´s nice (chuckles)....the past....the past is a funny thing, I´ve spent....so much of my life...writing about things that happened to me in my past, in my childhood....when I was growing up...and the past sort of binds you together....and it also is something that if you´re not careful, it can hold you back....hold you down....you get stuck with old dreams and the world keeps breaking your heart over and over again when they don´t come true.... you´re afraid to move on to new things....this next song is a song I wrote about a woman struggling to break free from her old dreams and from her past....struggling to understand the value of her own individual existence....and the importance and value of the life of her child ....it seems no matter who were or where we go, the value of our own lives....can slip away from us....this next song is a song about a woman struggling....struggling with that....with that fight....”
 * 17.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´Spare Parts´**

´´Oh yeah....this is for all you shopping addicts out there....when I come into town, I like to... go out and buy some souvenirs...little keepsakes....I was downtown shopping the other day, riding down the street....and as I drove along, I happened to look out the window...and there was this hotel...was called the Hotel Wacker...and there was this big goddamn picture of me on the side of the whole damn building !....and all it said was ´Non-Stop Rock and Roll´....”
 * 17.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ‘You Can Look’**

´´Are you with me out there tonight ? (cheers)....are there any brave Chicago men out there tonight ? (cheers)....are there any macho men out there tonight ? (cheers)...because I´ve seen men that would swim rivers....they´d climb mountains....they´d wrestle with a grizzly bear .... but there was one thing they was afraid of and I´m gonna tell you what that one thing was..... that one thing was L....U...V...love, they were scared of love....love scared those men to death, whenever they got next to it, they ran home like little babies to their mamas.....well, now, women, are there women out there tonight ? (cheers)....are there girls out there tonight? (cheers)....good, because I´m talking to you too....I´ve seen women that would jump out of airplanes at 30,000 feet....they´d go down the Amazon fighting off crocodiles and alligators ....but there was one thing they was scared of....and that one thing was love, love scared ´em ....now I´m down here ´cause I´ve got a confession to make....what I wanna say is I have sinned against you !....and I don´t need no Pat Robertson to forgive me....Pat Robertson can kiss my ass, baby....I don´t care who you bring down here, bring down Hulk Hogan, I´ll take him on, bring down Andre the Giant, I´ll take him on, bring down George the Animal Steele, I´ll wrestle with him right here, bring down the Road Warriors, I´ll take ´em on.....but there´s one thing that I got to confess....I ain´t afraid of those kinds of men but....I´m a coward when it comes to love....”
 * 17.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´I´m a Coward´**

´´I was reading the papers the other day and I....came across this story....”
 * 17.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´ Part Man Part Monkey´**

´´Oh, thank you.....this uh....when I was home before we came out on the road this time....I was, took us a long time to decide to come out on the road....mainly because, uh.....I sat around thinking what it was that I wanted to say and you know what....what I had that I felt was worth talking to you about right now....and uh.....I guess, uh, you know, I wanted to make sure that we came out and that we sang a new song, that´s my job (chuckles)...but uh, this next song is a song I´ve been singing for a long time....and....I guess in some way it sort of....for me it binds....it binds everything we´re trying to do here tonight together....it´s about a guy and a girl out there searching for something better....searching for some place that they could call ´home´...and uh, I guess as I got older, I realised, and as I sang this song through the years....I guess I realised there was no place you could run to, where you could escape.... in a way they could´ve escaped the sadness that´s in the world or the things that might hurt you....or where you could escape the happiness and a lot of the beauty that life has to offer... and I realised that home wasn´t out there but that it was buried deep inside somewhere....so this song has kept me good company on my search, I hope it´s kept you good company on yours so I wanna sing this and dedicate it to you tonight....”
 * 17.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´Born to Run´**

´´Thanks, just wanna thank everybody for coming down to the shows here we did here in Chicago...thanks a lot....and I´ll do this is for you, uh....and the one that, one that you love...”
 * 17.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´Love Me Tender´**

´´Sometimes I feel....I feel so lonely....I get this empty feeling....way deep down inside....and I just wanna cry, cry, cry, cry, cry now....and that´s when I know I need a little help....can I get a little help out there ?....is there somebody out there that can remind me that I´m a human being....hey, come on, baby....´´
 * 17.03.88 Chicago, IL, end of ´Dancing in the Dark´**

´´On the piano, Professor Roy Bittan....on the drums, the Mighty Max Weinberg....on the guitar and vocals, the lovely, educated Miss Patti Scialfa....on the guitar, the great Nils Lofgren.....on the bass, Mr. Garry W.Tallent....on the organ, Phantom Dan Federici....and back on the horns, Eddie ´Kingfish´ Manion on the baritone, Richie La Bamba, Mark ´The Love Man´, Mike on the trumpet, Mario Cruz on the saxophone, the Tunnel of Love horns .....and last but not least.....let´s get right to the point....let´s sweep all them other suckers right out of there, the man that deserves to be the next president of the United States....(?) them other jokers, Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons on the saxophone....´´
 * 17.03.88 Chicago, IL, middle of ´Light of Day´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//